Day 4: The Art of Not Reading
It is alarming how many questions the guests ask. Yes, the staff is equipped to answer most questions, yet there are times when one must ask if the guest leaves their brain at the office.
In this log we have already discussed the inability of most guests to take directions. This inability appears different once the guest is attempting to navigate the hotel property. Before we discuss the phobia of reading, we must first explain the layout of the hotel. It is an L-shaped hotel with only three floors. The lobby of the hotel is at one end of the L-shaped hotel. One can walk the length of an entire floor of the hotel in less than three minutes.
Common questions that the staff will hear are as follows:
“Is it in this building?”
“Do I have to through the outside to get there?”
“Which way do I go?”
Most of the questions could be answered if the guests simply looked at the building upon driving into the parking lot. Perhaps, they were too concerned with winning the perfect parking spot to look at the building, so we will excuse this lack of awareness. There is a frightening trend that only seems to worsen as the staff attempts to alleviate the problem. Guests have simply stopped reading signs.
There are information books in each of the rooms with information on the locations of the gym, ice machines, vending machines, and business center. Perhaps the guests are too involved in their phone calls (another topic for another day) to look around their rooms for information or they might think that the book is a menu for room service. There is also a map on the inside of their bedroom door with the entire hotel layout. Again, we can assume that is another thing that can be easily overlooked. There are also large signs with words and arrows along the halls directing the guests. Perhaps our carpet is too fascinating to look away.
Inevitably, the guest will come down to the front desk, annoyed, and ask the staff to the whereabouts of the ice machines. Inevitably the guest will say that they didn’t know what to dial in order to call the front desk, even though the fact they should have dialed zero is in bold print on the face of their phone. Inevitably, the guest asking for directions will be standing directly next to a large sign and map.
Do not expect the guests to read. Just answer their questions.
Hope that this aids your survival.
Good luck. Godspeed.
1 comment:
This is such a relevant phenomenon to talk about! I think that anyone who has worked in customer service understands that customers never read signs, brochures, price tags,
or anything else informative. This is an increasing problem in our society - the number of stupid questions that I hear in every day life is worrysome. And, when I worked at Trader Joe's, I was constantly slapping my forehead in response to the illogical
questions of customers. You do a great job of depicting this particular problem in a venue
where people are bound to be confused and tired from traveling. Hotels seem to be the location of some of the silliest questions, and you explain this in a very matter-of-fact but comical way. I really enjoy getting this fly-on-the-wall viewpoint of the front desk! Great blog.
On a heavier note, I'm worried about society. This trend is concerning. Does this mean that one day we will cease to seek out information ourselves? Is the number of people who actually look for their own answers quickly diminishing? Is this what will separate people in the future? Will it be the knowledge-seekers against the followers?
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